


You've Got A Friend

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 1 Million Posted Words, Camping, Communication, Established Relationship, Fluff, Good Boyfriend Theo Raeken, Good Theo Raeken, M/M, Minor Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Minor Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Minor Isaac Lahey/ScottMcCall/Nolan Holloway, Pack Bonding, Post-Canon, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 12:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15995582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: The pack goes on a camping trip as a way to reconnect. It works a lot better than Theo was expecting.





	You've Got A Friend

**Author's Note:**

> I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out the perfect thing to post to celebrate reaching one million posted words on AO3. It still seems crazy that I'm here.

The pack outing is Scott’s idea. Of course it is. He thinks that after everything the pack has been through the past few years they all deserve a break. Theo doesn’t expect to be included. He’s not officially part of the pack, more like pack adjacent. Even now that he’s dating Liam part of him still wonders if he really belongs with the pack. Some of them are still keeping him at arm’s length, which he gets. He can’t fault them for it. But he’s trying. He wants to be better. That should count for something.

He’s surprised when Liam comes running into his room the night before the trip and frowns as he looks around, “Where are your bags?”

“My bags?” Theo asks, glancing over at his boyfriend. “What bags?”

“For the trip!” Liam says, “You know, the one we’re going on in the morning.”

“You mean the one _you’re_ going on,” Theo says, his brow furrowing as he sits up.

“No, the one _we’re_ going on,” Liam corrects, “It’s a pack trip, Theo. That means everyone goes. You included.”

“Why so they can keep an eye on me?” Theo asks, feeling the bitterness start to rise. He should have seen this coming. They can’t exactly leave him alone unsupervised.

“No,” Liam says the word slowly, drawing it out. “Because you’re pack, and it’s a pack trip. We’re all going.”

“But I’m not…” Theo trails off, frowning as he looks down at his hands.

“You are,” Liam says, coming to kneel in front of hm. “Theo, you’re pack. You have been for a while. And that’s why you should come. This whole trip is going to be about connecting. It could be good for you. I think you need this more than anyone.”

Theo can’t argue with that. He knows he needs to be able to connect with the others. But it’s not about whether he wants to, because he does. It’s about whether _they_ want to. He’s not going to get his chance by just sitting at home with Jenna and watching Gilmore Girls reruns and drinking wine. As appealing as it sounds. He needs to show he’s serious about sticking around and being better. There’s only one way to do that.

So he shakes his head and gives Liam a fond smile, “Fine, I’ll go.”

***

They wake early the next morning, far earlier than Theo is used to waking. The sun is barely coming up behind the trees as they make their way outside to Theo’s truck. He turns to Liam with an expectant look as he starts the truck, “So? Where to?”

“Stiles and Derek are riding with us,” Liam tells him. “We’re picking them up at Derek’s on the way.”

Theo nods. He’s curious why they’re not driving themselves. He supposes it makes sense to take as few cars as possible. It’s just weird that Stiles would agree to be in a car with Theo rather than riding with Scott or Lydia.

“Why are they…?”

“Derek wanted to ride with us,” Liam shrugs. “And Stiles wanted to ride with Derek so we get both of them. Scott, Isaac, and Nolan are riding together. So are Mason, Corey, Malia, and Kira, and then Lydia and Parrish.”

“Is it a good idea to leave Scott, Nolan, and Isaac alone in a car together?” Theo asks as he starts down the road towards Derek’s.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Liam asks, “They’re dating.”

“Exactly Liam,” Theo smirks, “How do we know they won’t take a wrong turn and get lost for a bit?”

Liam’s eyes widen, “Its Scott’s idea! He wouldn’t miss it!”

“Oh I’m sure they’d get there eventually,” Theo tells him.

Stiles and Derek are waiting on the porch when Theo pulls up outside the house. “Get your things,” Stiles tells them, loud enough that he knows they can hear. “You’re riding with us. No way am I letting you drive us anywhere.”

“Stiles,” Derek sighs. He shakes his head at the younger man who’s throwing himself into the front seat of Derek’s SUV before turning towards Liam and Theo, “My car gets better gas mileage.”

Theo shrugs and turns the car off. He grabs Liam’s bag from the backseat and hands it to him before getting out of the truck and locking it. Derek claps him on the back as he walks up, “I’m glad you’re coming.”

Theo looks at Liam who’s grinning as he throws his bag in the trunk and then Theo’s when he hands it over, “Me too.”

“Yeah because I need someone that won’t drive me completely nuts,” Derek jokes.

Theo grins over at him, “Nice to know you think so highly of me.”

Derek shrugs, “You’re just the least annoying out of all of them.”

Theo shoves him lightly, unable to stop himself from laughing when Derek grins, “Just get in the car so we can go.”

The drive to the campsite is pretty uneventful. Well, if you don’t count Stiles wanting to sing along to Disney songs and dragging them all into it. Both Derek and Liam try and stay out of it, but neither last very long. It only takes Theo uses his hand as a microphone as he sings along to _Why Should I Worry?_ from Oliver and Company for Liam to crack up and start singing with him. Derek holds out a little longer, but not even he can resist the call of _I’ll Make A Man Out Of You_.

They arrive to the campsite in high spirits. The rest of the pack is already there, gathered around the site with their tents out and in various states of being put up.  

Theo grabs his bag out of the trunk and throws it over his shoulder, taking the tent that Derek hands him. He looks around the campsite and can’t help but smile as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath of the crisp mountain air. He’d been unsure about coming but now that he’s here he’s glad he did. It doesn’t matter what happens with the pack. It’s worth it being here for Liam and getting to be in nature like this.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get started getting your tent put up?” Stiles asks. He knocks their shoulders together lightly and grins. “I think you’ll probably do a better job of it than Liam. You’ve at least camped.”

“I’ve camped!” Liam says, a small pout working its way onto his lips.

“Sleeping in a camper doesn’t count,” Stiles says. “And neither does sleeping in a tent in your backyard,” Stiles adds when Liam starts to open his mouth.

Liam lets out a frustrated huff and grabs the tent from Theo before making his way over to where Mason and Corey are standing next to their tent, muttering to himself as he goes, “I’ll show him.”

Theo’s about to go over to him when Scott puts a hand on his arm and smiles, “Mason and Corey know what they’re doing. They’ll help. You can help me.”

“What about Nolan and Isaac?” Theo asks.

“They’re fine,” Scott says, nodding his head to where the pair are sitting on a log, “Plus, I want you to help. This is about us all connecting and we can’t do that if we just split off and stick with certain people.”

Theo nods and follows Scott over to where his tent is. Scott has a point. He’s honestly feeling a little relieved that Scott asked for his help. But then again, Scott has always been the one to reach out before anyone else. He’d accepted that Theo and Liam were dating with a knowing smile and told them he was happy for them. Theo knows he’s the reason so many of the others have started coming around the way they have, and he’s grateful for it. He might not feel like pack sometimes but he’s never really felt unwelcome.

He and Scott work well together getting the tent put up. They take turns reading the instructions off to the other and before they know it the tent is up and they’re able to stand back and smile at their work.

“We make a good team,” Scott says, grinning over at him.

Theo can’t help but grin back, “Yeah we do.”

He hears Liam cursing from across the campsite and winces, “I should see if he needs help.”

Scott chuckles, “Probably. If only for Mason and Corey’s sake.”

“And the sake of your tent,” Isaac says.

“Unless you really just want a good view of the stars tonight,” Nolan jokes.

“Stop being such assholes,” Liam calls over to them. “And get over here and help me, Theo. Mason and Corey don’t know what they’re doing.”

Stiles snorts, but masks it into a cough when Derek nudges him. Malia has no problem speaking her mind though. She never does. “They had no problems getting their own tent up.”

“There was simpler!” Liam says, glaring over at where his and Theo’s tent is half up.

Theo grimaces and starts making his way over. When he gets there he puts an arm around a still grumbling Liam’s shoulders, “What’s going on?”

“I can’t get the rods to fit right,” Liam mutters, “They keep slipping out.”

“That’s what she said,” Isaac mutters.

Liam glares over in his direction, a growl escaping him. Theo squeezes his shoulder and places a kiss to the side of his head, “We’ll figure it out.”

“Or you can,” Liam grumbles, “Since I’m apparently hopeless.”

“You’re not,” Theo tells him, “Now come on, read the directions off to me.”

Liam nods and grabs them off the ground. He reads off what needs to be done and Theo starts looking for the right part. Scott joins him after a moment, along with Derek and together they work on getting the tent up. When it’s done Liam just looks relieved that it’s up. He wasn’t wrong though. It’s a slightly bigger tent, so it’s a bit more complicated than the one Mason and Corey are sleeping in.

When it’s up, Liam grabs his bag and slips inside. Theo follows, knowing that he probably needs to talk to Liam. After kicking off his shoes he joins Liam on the sleeping bag he’s lying on. Liam looks up at him when Theo moves to hover over him.

“You okay?”

Liam sighs, “Yeah, I’m fine. I just… I wanted to prove that I could do it. Then I couldn’t, and now I just feel stupid.”

“You shouldn’t,” Theo tells him, resting his forehead against Liam’s. “Those directions were garbage.”

“But you figured it out,” Liam reminds him.

“Because I had you reading them to me, and Scott and Derek helping,” Theo points out. “I doubt even I could have slayed this beast on my own.”

“It’s not a beast, it’s a tent.”

“Close enough,” Theo says, his lips twitching up into a half-grin, which only widens when Liam smiles back.

***

When it starts getting dark they decide it’s time to get the fire going. Lydia and Parrish work to get it started while the others grab the food they’d brought out of the car. There are hot dogs in the cooler and then marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate for s’mores. Theo’s about to ask about sticks to cook with when Derek throws a bag down next to the fire and unzips it, pulling out pokers to cook their hot dogs and marshmallows with.

“You all are certainly prepared,” Theo says, taking a seat next to Liam. He takes the poker Derek hands him with a smile.

“I knew we needed to be,” Derek tells him, “I wasn’t about to be the one to have to drive into town when we inevitably forgot something and everyone else refused to go.”

“Hey, I would have gone.” Stiles tells him, pointing his stick at Derek.

Derek rolls his eyes and pushes the stick away before it has a chance to smack him in the face, “You mean you would have rode with me when I had to go.”

Stiles shrugs, grinning over at him as he places a marshmallow onto his poker, “At least you would have gotten to enjoy my company.”

“I’m already doing that now,” Derek tells him.

“Aww I never knew you cared Der,” Stiles says.

“Stiles, we’ve been dating for 8 months. If I didn’t care I wouldn’t still be here.”

Stiles smiles and leans down to place a kiss to his cheek, “I know. It’s still nice to hear it.”

He turns away and goes back to working on fitting the marshmallow to his poker. Theo grabs a hot dog and sticks it on his poker before placing it over the fire to cook. He shakes his head when Stiles lets out a yell when his marshmallow catches fire and he has to blow it out. He frowns down at it and peels off the burnt portions, throwing them into the fire, before finally eating his marshmallow.

“Of course you still don’t eat the burnt part of the marshmallow,” Theo says, giving him an amused smile.

“One thing about Stiles that will never change,” Scott says, taking a seat next to Theo.

“It tastes weird,” Stiles says, scrunching his face up as he watches Scott eat his marshmallow, bunt parts and all.

“It tastes amazing,” Scott says, the words coming out slurred as he speaks around his marshmallow.

“It’s the best part,” Theo tells him.

“You all have poor judgement then,” Stiles says.

“Stiles you’re the only one that doesn’t like it,” Derek points out.

“So? The majority doesn’t always know what it’s talking about,” Stiles says, “it’s important to form opinions for yourself.”

“It is,” Scott agrees.

“You’re talking about marshmallows,” Lydia says, ‘it’s hardly earth shattering information.”

“I’m going to talk to Mason and Corey,” Stiles says. “At least they’re nice to me.”

Derek watches him go with a fond smile.

“He’s not really mad, is he?” Theo asks.

“No,” Derek says, “but I should go just in case.”

Derek claps him on the shoulder as he stands, and then makes his way over to where Stiles is sitting. Theo smiles when Liam rest his head on his shoulder.

“I’m glad you came,” Liam says, his voice low.

“We all are,” Scott says.

“I’m glad I’m here,” Theo says, smiling over at him. “It’s nice being around everyone like this. It’s almost like…”

_I’m pack._

He closes his mouth and looks at the fire, not letting those last two words slip passed his lips. It must be obvious because Scot scoots closer to him on the log and leans against him, “You are pack, Theo. I know you might not believe it just yet, but you are. Everyone agrees.”

“I’m sure there are some that don’t,” Theo says.

“No. Even Malia and Stiles agree,” Scott tells him. “Stiles even made sure you were coming on the trip.”

Theo turns to him, his brow furrowed in confusion, “He did?”

Scott nods, “Yeah. I mean, I still think you two have a lot to talk about. But he’s getting there, Theo. He wants to trust you.”

Theo nods and glances across the fire to where Stiles and Derek are sitting. Stiles meets his gaze and smiles. It’s ruined when he holds up his unburnt marshmallow and sticks out his tongue before taking a giant bite. The marshmallow gets all over his face and he has to work to get it off. Theo snorts out a laugh and turns to Liam, “At least you don’t eat like that.”

“I would if you’d lick it off me,” Liam winks.

“TMI,” Scott mutters.

“Oh please,” Liam says, “As if you wouldn’t do the same to Nolan and Isaac.”

“Who says he hasn’t?” Isaac says from Scott’s other side.

“Now who’s oversharing?” Theo asks. He shakes his head and gets to his feet, smiling down at Liam when he gives him a questioning look. “I just feel like going for a walk. You can stay here. It’s fine.”

Theo walks to the edge of the campsite and follows the path down through the trees. It comes out on a lake. He slips off his shoes and socks and rolls his pants up before sitting down and letting his feet dip into the water. It’s a little cool but nothing he can’t handle.

He sits there for a while with his eyes closed and his face turned up as the slightly cool breeze brushes across his skin. He’s surprised at how at peace he feels here, not just in nature, but surrounded by pack.

He hears a branch snap but doesn’t turn his head. He can tell by the familiar scent and slightly too quick heart beat that it’s Stiles. The human doesn’t stay anything as he takes a seat next to Theo. There’s some rustling and then the water shifts, letting Theo know he’s joined him in sticking his feet in the water. Well that, and the muttered curse Stiles lets out.

“You could have warned me it was cold,” Stiles says.

Theo opens his eyes a fraction and turns his head just a bit to peer down at him, “It wasn’t that cold to me.”

“Yeah well you run hot,” Stiles says. “I wasn’t expecting the water to still be cold in the middle of June.”

“It could be worse,” Theo tells him.

Stiles stares at him for a moment, his eyes scanning Theo’s face in a way that has him shifting himself into focus, “Yeah it could.”

They fall silent, the two of them turning their attention back to the sky. Theo loves it here. There’s a clear view of the sky and he can see the stars shining brightly above them, along with the half full moon.

“It might be nice to come here for the full moon,” Theo says.

Stiles is silent for a moment, and when he speaks his tone is thoughtful, “Yeah I think it would. I mean you guys have the preserve to run through if you feel the need, but out here it feels…”

“Different,” Theo finishes, “More open, I guess. It’s peaceful here in way it’s not back in Beacon Hills. Even now.”

“Yeah exactly,” Stiles agrees, nodding his head rapidly. “There’s always that fear that something could happen. And it doesn’t go away just because we’re out here but it feels less prominent, I guess? Like some of us have been able to get away for school but I think this is important for you and the rest of the pups.”

“Pups?” Theo asks, raising an amused eyebrow.

“Yeah, the younger ones. Though you’re our age so you’re not _technically_ a pup. More like a pup by association.”

Theo shakes his head, a grin slipping its way onto his face, “I’ll take it, I guess. Not that I really have a choice, I imagine.”

“Oh there’s always a choice,” Stiles says.

“And if I choose not to be a pup?”

“Then I can choose to ignore your choice,” Stiles grins.

Theo huffs out a laugh, “Of course you do.”

“Are you guys coming back?” Scott calls, “We’re going to start the sing-a-long!”

“Don’t you dare start without me!” Stiles calls back. “It was my idea!”

He gets to his feet and then surprises Theo by holding a hand out to him. Theo takes it and lets Stiles pull him to his feet. He goes to walk by Stiles but stops when he puts a hand on Theo’s arm, “Hey, I know we haven’t talked it out, and there are probably things that need to be said. But you know I forgive you, right? Like I can tell you’re not the big bad murder chimera you were, and you’re actually try.”

Theo nods, feeling his throat close up as he whispers out a “thank you.”

Stiles smiles and squeezes his arm, “Don’t start crying on me now. That will definitely ruin your reputation.”

Theo lets out a wet laugh, “Well I can’t have that.”

He follows Stiles back to the campfire, and moves to take his place between Liam and Scott, the former of which smiles at him and pats his shoulder. He can feel Liam’s eyes on him so he turns his head to find him smiling softly at him.

“Good?” Liam asks.

“Yeah,” Theo says, his eyes moving to find Stiles, who smiles at him and raises his drink. “We’re good.”

For the first time in a while he actually believes it. Things might not be completely resolved but sitting here, surrounded by his pack he knows that they will be. He just has to let himself hope, and he’s ready to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day. ♥  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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